Edmonton officers on leave after uniformed video, speaking at Coutts protest

Const. Elena Golysheva and Staff Sgt. Rick Abbott of the Edmonton Police Service (Sources: Facebook and CTV News Edmonton)

Two Edmonton police officers have been placed on "administrative leave" for making public statements praising the "freedom convoys" and travelling to Coutts, Alta., to join protesters there.

Const. Elena Golysheva of the Edmonton Police Service wore her uniform while delivering a three-minute speech that has since been viewed thousands of times on social media groups.

She also attended a protest in southern Alberta on Saturday and spoke to a crowd gathered there, video of which was also posted to Facebook, EPS confirmed.

Another EPS member, Staff Sgt. Rick Abbott also spoke to the crowd, identifying himself as a police officer before introducing Golysheva in Coutts.

"We're on a little bit of thin ice, up here doing this, but so are you out there," Abbott said.

"Elena is probably going to get in a little bit of trouble for a little bit of video that she did. But I think everyone across the nation knows that the risk that she took was well worth the effort."

On Tuesday, an EPS spokesperson said Golysheva and Abbott both now face a Professional Standards Branch investigation, but will still be paid during that process.

"As such, I am unable to provide any additional information at this time," Cheryl Sheppard wrote in a statement.

"I'm here because you have given me so much strength," Golysheva said in Coutts, adding that she was not there representing her police service.

In her uniformed video, Golysheva said she moved to Canada "to be free," and she thanked truckers and farmers for "standing up (for) the police officers, when we could not stand up for you."

She added she will not follow "unlawful orders" because she's for "freedom of choice," but she didn't explain exactly what that meant.

"I've always been reminded by my supervisors, 'Please question unsafe orders. Ask us questions if you think the orders are unlawful.' And that's what I think our job is. Thank you truckers for standing up for all of us," Golysheva said.